Nicholls Botanical Cafe — Restaurant in Wales

This is a very pretty and well designed cafe. But that's where it ends. I had to be let in by one of the members of staff as they had blocked the entrance.

I am gluten free, so already I find it hard to find places to go, so when I asked the GF options, I was absolutely delighted that they had multiple options. I ordered a flat white and a carrot cake.

When it came, the icing on the carrot cake was melted all over the plate and the cake was warm. The coffee was so hot that I can only assume the milk was so over warmed.

I went to ask the people behind the counter why it was warm and why the icing had been melted and I was told that the cake was put through the microwave because it had been frozen. Now I completely understand that cafes use frozen cakes and defrost them. However I thought that the cakes that were on offer to me were naturally gluten free. Rather than something taken from the freezer and warmed up...

Maybe it's my fault for assuming this but please, in future either tell customers that they will be having warmed carrot cake or just get naturally GF options that can be defrosted like the...

I would love to be able to give a first class review for Nichols Botanical Cafe in Abergavenny, but unfortunately after waiting 20 minutes to be served at a table today I gave up and left the premises. How can it be that with 4 different members of staff on duty they were all too busy to take my order for a coffee and cake - not including two people behind the counter permanently. I tried to catch the eye of one Waitress but she was so sour faced and she looked at me as she went passed, it was as though she couldn’t be bothered. Even the very nice man who I spoke to who lifted the entry rope realised I had not been served 15 minutes later, he went to instruct one of the other Waiters ( they didn’t look rushed off their feet and it wasn’t busy ) to serve me, but then he was sidetracked and got talking to some other customers who had left, I think they were friends of his. I Walked out 5 minutes later. Went straight over to Ziggys just opposite and got served straight away. I will avoid this shop and cafe like the plague now and will be telling everyone I know about their...

A nice, varied menu with something to suit most tastes, with ingredients usually from local sources. The list of specials is changed frequently. Service can be slow and staff sometimes appear disorganised. A wait to be seated is common, especially on Saturdays. They have a system where customers are given a pager style device so they can browse the shop and then be paged when a table becomes available. The seating area is pleasant enough with its large atrium window. The atmosphere can be a little noisy. There are several booths which can seat up to four people and have a quieter, cosier feel. Partly covered outdoor seating is...